United Kingdom

Offshore Blyth work begins

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Work has begun on the UK's first offshore wind energy project, one kilometre off the coast of Northumberland at Blyth. A jack-up rig has been towed to site to drill the foundations in the seabed for the two 2 MW Vestas wind turbines. The foundations will be 3.7 metres in diameter and some 20 metres in depth. The turbines are the largest in the world to be built offshore. They are expected to start operating by early September. Output will be sold under a Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation contract. The £4 million project is also supported by the European Commission's Thermie energy program. It is being built by Blyth Offshore Wind Limited -- a consortium of AMEC Border Wind, PowerGen Renewables, Dutch utility offshoot NUON UK, and Shell Renewables.